“Justices to Hear Cases over Trump's DACA Rollback,” Law360

June 28, 2019

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday took up three of the Trump administration's long-pending appeals to wind down the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, setting up another high-stakes immigration fight in the nation's top court.

In a one-line order, the justices consolidated the three cases for a total of one hour of oral arguments. As is typical, the Supreme Court did not explain its decision to grant review.

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In taking up the cases, the high court has thrown further uncertainty on the future of some 800,000 DACA recipients and imposed new pressure on Congress to pass permanent legislative protection for them.

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In moving to rescind it in September 2017, the Trump administration asserted Obama's creation of the program constituted an unlawful overreach of his executive authority. The government claimed the program suffered from the same legal deficiencies as Obama's Deferred Action for Parents of Americans program, which a Texas federal court struck down in a February 2015 ruling that was later affirmed by the Fifth Circuit.

The Supreme Court took up cases filed in the Second, Ninth and D.C. circuits. The administration brought the Supreme Court appeals after district courts ruled in favor of plaintiffs challenging the rollback and before the appeals courts had had a chance to rule. Though the Ninth Circuit did soon after, upholding a nationwide injunction keeping the program alive, the Second and D.C. circuits have yet to rule.